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Copy 1 



Jlubs and Other Work 
WITH Boys 



By 

DAVID R. PORTER 

Secretary for Secondary School Work, International 
Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations 



SECTION III 

Manual of Volunteer Coaimunity 
Service by College Men 



Edited by 
R. H. EDWARDS and A. M. TRAWICK 

Social Service Secretaries, Student Department, 

International Committee of Young Men's 

Christian Associations 



New York: 124 East 28th Street 
London: 47 Paternoster Row, E.C. 



Copyright, 1914, by the 

International Committee of 

Young Men's Christian Associations 



Of C -5 m 

)CI.A388693 

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PREFACE 

The Series of Volunteer Community Service by Col- 
lege Men, of which this pamphlet is Section III, treats 
the following main forms of service and is published in 
a series of pamphlets parallel to this. It will also be 
published in book form. 

I. Bible Classes and Other Service in Religious 
Education. 
II. Religious Deputations. 

III. Clubs and Other Work with Boys. 

IV. Service Visits to Families and Institutions. 

V. Public Speaking for Social and Moral Reform. 
VI. Recreational Service. 
VII. Educational Classes and Other Service for Work- 

ingmen. 
VIII. Assistance in Surveys, Investigations and 
Exhibits. 
IX. Summer Vacation Work. 
X. Alumni Service. 

A Manual of Campus Service by College Men is also in 
course of preparation. 

Volunteer Social Service by College Men is an intro- 
ductory general pamphlet which presents both Campus 
and Community Service and deals with their need, scope, 
principles, chief forms, organization and relationships. 
It should be carefully consulted by all who use this 
pamphlet as it contains suggestions upon the organization 
of service and other matters not repeated here. 

This pamphlet has' been written in conformity to an 
outline prepared for the uniform presentation of the 
forms of community service listed above. This outline 
is apparent in the headings of successive paragraphs. 



I 

WORK WITH BOYS 



Introduction 



The following brief suggestions aim to be of help to 
college undergraduates who want to serve in character- 
building work with boys. The limitations of space neces- 
sitate very concise treatment of many important topics 
and it may be that in some places more questions are 
raised than are answered. On the other hand, the author 
trusts that a general background for work with boys and 
many helpful suggestions may be here condensed. Fre- 
quent reference will be made to pamphlets and books in 
the rapidly growing literature on w^ork with boys to which 
the worker is earnestly advised to refer. 

One who has had experience in work with boys realizes 
that there are as many distinct problems as there are 
individual boys. However, for the purposes of treatment 
at this time, it will probably be found sufficient to desig- 
nate three classes of boys among which the average 
college student will find an outlet for his service : 

(a) Work with younger boys — age fourteen and 
under (this will generally include both boys who are at 
school and those who are working). 

(b) Work with secondary schoolboys. This may be 
either (I) work with boys in local high school or (H) 
work with boys in preparatory schools and academies. 
(This latter class will be more adequately treated in 
Section H which has to do with religious deputations.) 

(c) Work with wage-earning boys, including both 
industrial and commercial boys. 



6 CLUBS AXD OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

Work With Younger Boys 

1. For Whom 

This work is for younger boys — those fourteen and 
under. It is much more important than the beginner may 
think, to grade very carefully the boys among whom the 
work is to be done. That is, younger (12-14) and older 
(15-19) boys should not be mixed in a single group. 
Their natural interests are so different that they will not 
successfully mingle in a homogeneous unit. When work 
is attempted for boys under eleven they also should be in 
a separate group from boys between eleven and fourteen. 

2. Work to he Done 

The kind of work to be done will depend partly upon 
whether the student is able to originate and initiate work 
with boys, or whether he merely fits into a scheme of 
work which is already in operation. Opportunities for 
such cooperating work will be found wherever there are 
boys and that is everywhere — in Sunday schools, settle- 
ments, city Young Men's Christian Associations, boys' 
clubs, private and pubHc schools, etc. Likewise there 
may be found near every campus many boys who are not 
now included in any character-building movement and yet 
are most responsive if some college man will take the 
initiative in organizing them. 

It will be noticed that no chapter is included on work 
with so-called ''Street Boys.'' Mature thought leads us to 
the conclusion that boys usually considered to be in this 
class may be better treated as either (a) schoolboys who 
for a few hours a day are employed in street trades or 
(b) the rougher types of working boys. By giving a 
name to this class, a name which suggests only the 
incidental, not the essential phases of their life, we are 
helping to perpetuate the very conditions which all our 
work aims to eradicate. (In Chicago during recent years 



GEXERAL SUGGESTIOXS 7 

the ordinary street trades like selling papers and shoe 
shining have been almost entirely transferred to men.) 

(a) Mass Clubs. In some places there will be found 
already in operation so-called ''^lass Clubs for Boys." 
These clubs usually control buildings which are opened 
without any exacting membership requirements to large 
numbers of boys who may or may not pay some small 
weekly or monthly membership fee. They usually mingle 
promiscuously and come and go without schedule as may 
suit their passing fancy or as may be possible for them 
between jobs or when there is no other place but the 
street in which to play. Such clubs are usually fitted for 
certain kinds of rougher games and give opportunity for 
certain gymnastic and indoor athletic exercises. Some- 
times a reading-room is also maintained. The consensus 
of opinion among those w^ho have studied most carefully 
diflrerent forms of work with boys is that such mass clubs, 
while doubtless filling a helpful place in the lives of some 
boys, are not as permanently potent in character-building 
as the small club units later described in this chapter. 
They have certain advantage in being able to touch a 
large number of boys but they touch few of them deeply. 
The worker is apt to meet different boys every time he 
attends with the exception of a small ^roup who are the 
regular ''Stand-bys." In such mass clubs there is fre- 
quently an opportunity for a college man to lead gym- 
nastic classes, to supervise game-rooms and reading-room, 
and occasionally to help in ''hikes,'' excursions, picnics, 
outdoor and indoor athletic coaching, umpiring, etc. 
Before committing oneself to such work with boys, 
however, we urge that the student give careful considera- 
tion to the better plan which w^e now proceed to describe. 

(b) Small Group or Club Plan of Work. This plan 
of club work, whether it is to include a few boys or many, 
is organized with small group clubs of ten or twelve boys 
as the unit. If there is opportunity for a work among 
large numbers of boys, the entire work would be made 



8 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

Up of a series or federation of small units. Into each 
unit or club should be brought all the activities and there 
should be centered all of the organization. The federa- 
tion of clubs should have only such limited organization 
as might be necessary for occasional united action. 

The average boy of this age has many needs — physical, 
social, mental, moral and religious. It is wise, therefore, 
that the plan of club organization should be comprehen- 
sive enough to meet, if necessary, all the needs of all the 
boys in the club. The experience of the best workers in 
settlements. Young Men's Christian Associations and 
churches has been to point out clearly the wisdom of such 
small group clubs with such a comprehensive purpose 
and plan. For example, it is usually inadvisable for a 
leader, a college man or other, to organize a camera club 
among boys ; a much better scheme would be to organize 
simply a small club. In this club he might decide for two 
or three months to center upon photography, but when 
after a few weeks the boys' enthusiasm for photography 
begins to wane, he could make something else the chief 
line of activity; for instance, baseball, or camping, or 
wireless telegraphy, or practical talks. A student's time 
can be more economically spent, therefore, in connection 
with agencies which make possible in small clubs this 
fourfold work with boys, namely, educational, physical, 
social and religious. 

In cases where a college Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation initiates work among boys there seems no room 
for argument but that such organization should be on 
this basis of a series of small club units, each club to 
include these four essential elements. Such clubs should 
include from six to twelve boys and one college man be- 
comes the Big Brother or leader. In most such clubs 
it is advisable to have at least two meetings a week. One 
might be primarily for Bible study in which, in an increas- 
ing number of cases, the club meets as a Sunday school 
class in connection with some church. The second 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 9 

meeting might specialize on some other form of activity. 
At certain times of the 3^ear it might be social; at others, 
educational ; and at others, athletic. When advisable or 
necessary the club may have only one meeting a week, 
in which case it is advisable that about one half of the 
time be given to Bible study and the other half of the 
time given to one of the other phases of activity.^ 

There should be no hesitation in introducing the reli- 
gious element into these clubs. Much experience has 
proved that clubs which definitely include religious activi- 
ties are not only more helpful to boys but also more 
popular and permanent. Such religious work may be 
done in most cafees, if done tactfully and wisely, even 
when boys of many denominations, creeds and races are 
in the same group. It is essential, however, that the reli- 
gious element be introduced at the start and not brought 
in after the club is organized. The boys are quick to see 
that this is a comprehensive plan for a complete life such 
as they want for themselves. It is not four clubs with 
different purposes but is one club including all the phases 
of a complete life. 

Scouting in Relation to Such Club Work. It will be 
seen at once that such a plan offers wide opportunity for 
the inclusion of Boy Scout activity. Generally it seems 
advisable not to organize a club purely as a Boy Scout 
troop but rather to organize a club as above stated. Then, 
if advisable, on certain occasions let them meet as a troop 
of Boy Scouts or include scouting activity. The hand- 
book of the Boy Scouts contains many practical sugges- 
tions of what to do. It is also, among younger boys, 
sometimes helpful for the boys to purchase the scouting 
uniform. It should be constantly borne in mind, however, 
that this is a club of boys with a great comprehensive 
purpose and that the purpose of the Scout Movement fits 
into it very well but is not a substitute for it. 



1 In the bibliography at the close of this chapter are sug-gested several Bible 
study courses which are admirably adapted to this work. 



CHART 1. 



A Mass Club 

LARGC NUM6CR5 Of 

Boy6 
Gektkal Activities 

UApCf^s WHO Follow 
Htf^OiNG- Pkoce^6 



THt l€^sr Succt^sruL Form Of Club Work With Bov^ 



CHART SL 



A 

F£:d£ratiom1 

OF CLUBS j 



/GtROUPX 


/&R0UP\ 


/&ROUP\ 


/groupX 


/GRoupX 


I CLUB ) 


ICLU6 J 


I CLUB ) 


( CLUB ) 


I CLUB ) 


^ leaoer 


A Leaoei? 


A LEAOCR 


A LtADEH 


A LtADtR 


AND IZ B0V6 


AND 12. BOVS 


AND 12 Rors 


AND 12 B0Y6 


AND 12 BOrs 



The Ideal Club6 For Boys 



(each club to 

EOuCATtONAL 



INCLUDE RELIG-IOU&, SOCIAL, 

AND PHV6ICAL ACriVITlCS 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 11 

3. Place of the Work 

In churches, Sunday schools, Young Men's Christian 
Associations, social settlements, boys' clubs, private 
homes, private and public schools, etc. It is increasingly 
evident that much of this work is most economically done 
when it is connected with some such permanent agency in 
the community as the Sunday school. Thus there may be 
a club in each Sunday school in town and a federation of 
the younger boys' clubs for the entire town. 

4. Dwisioii of the JVork 

First, one man to be designated as leader should be 
assigned to each club. In fact, a better way is to select 
a leader and then constitute the small club around him. 
He should be a man Avho, in his own life, either exempli- 
fies or evidently appreciates the need of the fourfold 
development of boys. It is extremely doubtful whether 
the college Christian Association ought to recommend 
for such leadership of boys a man who is not thoroughly 
a Christian man. Whatever phases of the club program 
and purpose this leader may not be able himself to direct, 
he may merely oversee and cause to be directed by an 
associate. 

Second, there should be a number of associate leaders. 
These men are not primarily responsible for the entire 
direction of any single group, but should be those who are 
called in from time to time to help in the work of a club 
or to direct some phase of the club's activity for which 
the leader himself is not particularly qualified. For 
example, a leader who was not athletic might turn over 
an occasional weekly meeting to an associate leader who 
would coach the club baseball team. 

It is evident that this plan of work and organization 
calls for as many leaders as there are groups, and in 
addition a list of assistant leaders. Thus there is oppor- 
tunity to use the helpful service of any man in college who 



12 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

has any contribution to give to the Hfe of boys. Let us 
again, however, point out the disadvantage, if not the 
danger, of nominating as a leader a man who is not 
thoroughly interested in the complete training toward 
Christian character. 

5. Qualifications of the Worker 

First, of the leader: a vital interest in boys and their 
complete moral and religious development; regularity in 
keeping appointment ; versatility ; ability to get boys to do 
things, which is more important than doing them himself ; 
one who remembers his own boyhood. 

Second, of an assistant leader : a man who is attractive 
at first sight and able to do some things himself. 

6. Previous Training Advisable 

\Miile a man might be an assistant leader and be able 
to do certain things with boys from his own native intui- 
tion and remembering his own boyhood days, a man who 
is to be a leader in such a comprehensive plan ought to 
have some special training. Some of this training may be 
gained from careful perusal of the books in the appended 
bibliography. If possible, however, he should take a 
course of training in one of the numerous summer schools 
of the Young Men's Christian Association, such as 
Silver Bay, Lake Geneva or Black Mountain. It w^ould 
be well if, during the spring term, the men who the fol- 
lowing year were to do work with boys should meet in a 
short-term training group for a study of boy life and how 
to do things. If necessary the assistant leaders can be 
privately coached for their part in the work. 

7. A Specimen Meeting 

A leader of the Red Lion Club, accompanied by an 
associate leader, went at seven o'clock to the social settle- 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 13 

ment for their regular weekly meeting of the club. They 
found eleven of the twelve members of the Red Lion 
Club already waiting around the front of the building, 
although the appointed time for the club session was still 
fifteen minutes off. They all went upstairs directly to the 
clubroom and the meeting was called to order by the boy 
president of the club. The minutes of the last meeting 
were read by the secretary. The leader was then called 
upon by the president and occupied twenty minutes with 
a simple Bible lesson and informal discussion based upon 
the text-book, Men Who Dared. This Old Testament 
biography cpurse was used because there were two Jewnsh 
boys who are among the most enthusiastic workers of the 
club. At the close of the little lesson the leader offered 
a brief prayer and they then joined in the Lord's Prayer. 
The president of the club then called upon the assistant 
leader, who gave an interesting talk on wireless teleg- 
raphy and at the close invited all the boys to meet him 
on Saturday afternoon at his college room for a visit to 
the college laboratories, where wireless telegraphy 
apparatus w^ould be exhibited. 

N. B. If work like this were done among boys in a 
small town, certain adaptations would, of course, have 
to be made to fit into the rural or small town condition. 
On the other hand, boys are found to be boys the world 
over and it is an approved plan of the County Work 
Department of the Young Men's Christian Association 
to base all of its activity upon similar small group organi- 
zations. 

8. Advisers 

Any local or supervisory boys' work secretary of the 
Young Men's Christian Association, college professors of 
sociology, psychology and education, any pastor or 
Sunday school worker who has a S3mipathy with boys 
and is up to date and informed concerning boy life and 
activity. 



14 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

9. Difficulties Likely to be Encountered and How to 
Meet Them 

First, it is usually more difficult to get competent and 
consecrated leaders than it is to get boys. 

Second, it is often hard to get those in authority to see 
that work with boys should be on a basis of permanency, 
i.e. : 

(a) Small groups as a unit. 

(b) Each group to include work for all four of the 
fundamental needs of boys' w^ork. 

(c) It is sometimes difficult to get leaders to stick. 
There is need that the leader should come to know the 

boys personally and build himself into their life — the 
transfer of personality. 

10. Social Problems to be Studied in Connection with 
This Service 

First, the problem of child labor. 
Second, the need of playgrounds. 

Third, the importance of the religious motive in public 
education. 

Fourth, the laws of heredity and eugenics. 

Fifth, the police system as a method of prevention. 

11. Related Professional Service 

Such work shows the worker the need and field of 
religious education in all churches ; the opportunity of the 
boys' work secretaryship in the Young Men's Christian 
Association ; the opportunity of school teaching as a pro- 
fession for men with a broad social and religious point 
of view ; the need for every denomination to have expert 
leaders in boys' work and, in general, the need for con- 
secrated men in politics and education, who appreciate 
the lessons of genetic pS3xhology. 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 15 

12. Religions Significance 

First, as a man begins to work with a boy or wuth 
boys he is carried back unconsciously to his own simple 
boyish beliefs and the vital influences of his life during 
that most plastic period. . This can do for him nothing 
but good and give him nothing but inspiration during 
these days of study and sometimes of intellectual doubt. 

Second, there is a great advantage for a man to have 
to express in simple clear-cut form his own personal 
beliefs. 

13. Reading References^ 

1. General books on boy life and activity (see page 
33). 

2. Helpful literature for younger boys. 

(a) For general reading. 
Books : 

Almost a Man. Mary Wood-Allen. 50 cents. 
The Story of Dan McDonald. G. W. Hinckley. 

10 and 25 cents. 
The Black Bearded Barbarian. ]\Iarion Keith. 

40 and 60 cents. 
Roughing It with Boys. G. W. Hinckley. 75 

cents. 
Uganda's White Man of Work. S. L. Fahs. 

40 and 60 cents. 

Pamphlets : 

Things Which Make a Man. R. E. Speer. 5 

cents. 
Top or Bottom, Which? Archer Brow^n. 10 

cents. 
The Next Step. C. E. Jefiferson. 5 cents. 



1 All books, pamphlets and periodicals listed in this pamphlet can be secured 
from Association Press, 124 East 28th Street, New York City. 



16 CLUBS AXD OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

(b) Bible stud}^ courses: 

What Manner of Man Is This? W. D. ^Murray. 

Cloth, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents. 
Men Who Dared. C. G. Trumbull. .Cloth, 

teachers' edition, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents; 

students' edition, 10 cents. 
Comrades of Jesus. R. R. Perkins, Teachers' 

edition, paper, 25 cents; students' edition, 10 

cents. 
Travels of St. Paul. Melvin Jackson. 

Teachers' edition, cloth, 40 cents ; paper, 25 

cents ; students' lesson leaves with maps for 

tracing journeys, per set, 10 cents. 



IT 
WORK WnU WORKIXG BOYS 

1. For JJlioju 

These boys may be either those working in factories, 
mills and mines or those in offices, etc. The former Ave 
shall describe as Industrial Boys; the latter. Commercial 
Boys. In this section will also be included work with a 
class often spoken of as "Street Boys.'' That term will 
not be employed here for by its use we are helping to 
perpetuate a condition of society Avhich ought not to 
exist longer. There should be few if any street trades 
for boys. This class of boys will usually, therefore, be 
considered either as neglected grammar school boys or 
as the rougher type of working boys. 

2. JJ^ork to be Done 

The aim should be to bring to these boys satisfactions 
for their peculiar needs. The purposes of such work 
have been described by a thoughtful Vv'orker as follows : 

1. To gtiide boys into useful and successful careers. 

2. To provide good times, recreation that re-creates. 

3. To secure recognition that physical excellence is 
the basis of success. 

-I. To give working boys a sense of brotherhood Vv'ith 
all men. 

5. To create and satisfy a desire for education as 
equipment for success and enjoyment of life. 

6. To train them in religious life and service. 

T. To reveal the value of the family, its relationships 
and ideals, its infltience on the life of the individual boy. 

Now of course it is quite possible for a college student 
to spend his energ}- on any one of these seven points. He 

17 



18 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

might, for example, meet a group of working boys weekly 
simply for study — study of general worth in mental 
training or a study of the English language for foreign 
boys. We do not discourage such partial work, but 
rather suggest a more comprehensive aim and method. 
The interest of the boys will be more permanent and the 
results greater if the group aims ultimately ''to help meet 
all the needs of all the boys.'' 

Organize, therefore, these boys with clubs of about a 
dozen members. Let each group elect its own officers. 
Let it be understood right from the start that the club 
has this comprehensive and serious purpose. A con- 
genial group of boys is thus the basis of all the organiza- 
tion rather than a temporary interest. It will be found 
easy to include Bible study at the start as one of several 
phases of the club's activity, but hard to bring it in later 
if the start was merely for athletics or study of efficiency. 
The program of the meetings of such a club may be 
similar to that outlined on page 13, although constantly 
modified to meet the peculiar needs of boys who work. 
These needs will be soon discovered by a watchful leader. 
He will remember that they have been working long 
hours, often at monotonous tasks and in uninspiring 
surroundings. Many of them, however, mingle with 
maturer men and by the circumstances of their industrial 
and family life have very deep and serious views of life. 

The kind of work will be partly determined also by the 
type of community in which it is done. For example, 
work in Princeton by Princeton men would be quite 
different from work in New York by Columbia men. 
In the former it would usually be possible to have each 
small club tied up to a church, while in the larger city it 
might sometimes be necessary to start on a basis of a 
factory or shop. 

Of course there are many pieces of isolated service 
which students may do for working boys. Here are a 
.few of them : cooperate w^ith foremen and superintendents 



WORKING BOYS 19 

in welfare work ; give practical talks at noon time ; 
arrange games at noon and even tournaments and 
"Twilight Leagues" ; cooperate with Juvenile Court 
officials to help delinquents ; teach English to foreigners ; 
organize camps and hikes ; visit needy boys' homes, etc. 
But the thing we are after is to make a real contribution 
of a permanent nature to the complete needs of boys — 
social, mental, physical, religious. We should try to 
work with boys and not merely for them. Hence, it 
seems that a form of club work with a comprehensive 
aim, as outlined above, is the best ideal to have before us. 

For each club there should of course be a leader who 
is primarily responsible for the regular and continuous 
activity of the club. This leader may frequently call to 
his help the cooperation of assistant leaders. Each club 
should have its own name, constitution and officers. In 
places where more than one club is undertaken the differ- 
ent clubs should be federated together. Remember, 
however, that the unit is the small club. 

The opportunity which a college man has for service 
among boys is in a general way that of a Big Brother. 
Wherever he finds these boys, whether in high schools or 
selling papers on the street, the hunger of the average 
boy's heart is for a friend and to be such a friend or Big 
Brother is the object that a college man should have in 
mind in all this service. In some cities this aspect of 
service among boys who have been let out on probation 
by the Juvenile Court is so great that there has been 
originated what is called a Big Brother Movement. 
Every college man who works with boys has the privilege 
of being a Big Brother whether or no he works in an 
organized movement. 

3. Place of the Work 

If possible some suitable place should be discovered for 
the regular meetings of the club, such as a Young Men's 
Christian Association, church parlor, settlement, private 



20 CLUBS AXD OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

home, public library, college man's room, college building, 
etc. In the first instance, however, it may be necessary 
to catch the boy wherever you can. Find them in fac- 
tories or shops during the noon hour or hunt them up 
one by one at their homes, boarding houses, or loafing 
places. 

4. Division of the Work 

As in work with younger boys it is best to distinguish 
two classes of men leading among working boys. (1) 
Those who are in full sympathy with the full purpose of 
a club ; actively interested in the personal religious life 
of boys as w^ell as the other phases of his life. There 
should be formed only as many groups as there are such 
leaders. (2) Those who are able and willing to help 
occasionally but not of the type to assume entire respon- 
sibility for a group. These may be called assistant 
leaders. For example, an assistant leader may have a 
speciality such as wireless telegraphy or high jumping 
and go w4th that specialty from time to time to different 
groups. 

5. Qualifications of the Worker 

The quaHfications of a leader should be similar to 
those suggested on page 12. Among working boys the 
worker needs to be less of a ''typical student,'' though of 
course the big athlete gains a certain introductory admira- 
tion ; there is more need that he should be warm-hearted 
and of a broad social point of view. Here, as elsewhere 
in work with boys, no man should be made responsible 
for primary leadership who is not a Christian man. Else 
you are in danger of creating in the plastic mind the 
impression, 'Svhat a fine fellow — and not a Christian 
either." This work should not be undertaken unless it is 
chiefly to help boys; it is not primarily to give jobs to 
college men who are not quite up to the religious work of 
the Association. 



JJ'ORKIXG BOYS 21 

6. Previous Training Advisable 
See page 1'2. 

7. A Specimen Meeting 

''Whtn I went down to the Y. :\I. C. A. at 7.30 p.m. I 
found most of the Edison Chib playing games in the 
reception-room. They had been w^orking all day in the 
automobile factory and were not in a condition yet for 
the more serious educational classes. At eight o'clock we 
gathered the group of twelve boys, who composed the 
club, for their club meeting. First came a ten-minute 
paper on 'Current Happenings in the Great World.' 
Then I led a discussion for thirty minutes based on a 
chapter in Robinson's Christian Teaching on Economic 
and Social Qnestions. At the close we united in the 
Lord's Prayer. Then came a short gA^mnasium period 
and swim before we separated till our next weekly 
meeting." 

8. Advisers 

See page 13 above. Also foremen, labor union officers 
and policemen. 

9. Diffiailties Likely to be Encountered and How to 
Meet Them 

(1) At the start. Boys will often show their worst 
side and misunderstand what you want to do. Some- 
times hard (though very necessary) to pick out the lead- 
ing boys. But chiefly to get leaders who will pay the 
price of consecration to this task and of knowing 
thoroughly the boy — his personal work, home and social 
Hfe. (2) In the progress of the work. To keep our 
ideals of character and training in culture uppermost 
when much of the boy's environment tends to a dull level 
of drifting: to show parents and employers their respon- 
sibihty. As each year closes to give proper chances for 



22 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

recording ''forward steps/' such as to join the church, 
etc." 

10. Social Problems to be Studied in Connection with 
This Service 

All social problems which touch the working classes 
generally bear directly upon the growing generation 
of working boys, e.g., poverty, organized labor, immi- 
gration, misery and its causes, and also compulsory 
education, child labor, juvenile crime and the need of 
vocational training. 

11. Related Professional Service 

Preventive medicine, the ministry, boys' work in the 
Young Men's Christian Association, general social work, 
teaching. 

12. Religious Significance 

All the significance of other work with boys — simple 
expression of faith, and a reminder of our own pure 
religious aspirations during our teens. Also a growing 
appreciation of the social implications of the Gospel as 
one sees the havoc of our unchristian society. A new 
understanding of Jesus' love for children and the poor 
as we come in personal touch with these boys and their 
family life. We should expect to see whole families 
uplifted and evangelized as we win the young sons. 

13. Reading References 

1. General books on boy life and activity (see page 
33). 

2. (a) Concerning working boys: 

The Wage Earner. John Mitchell. $1. 



1 See Chapter XII, Boys' Work in the Local Church (Vol. V, Men and Religion 
Movement) . 



WORKING BOYS 23 

The Wage-Earning Boys. C. C. Robinson. 25 
cents. 

How Volunteer Leaders Can Help the Indus- 
trial Boy — and other pamphlets. F. H. 
Rindge, Jr. . Free upon appHcation to the 
Industrial Department, The International 
Committee Y. M. C. A., 124 East 28th Street, 
New York City. 

Ways and Means. A Handbook of Industrial 
Service. 15 cents. 

Vocational Guidance of Youth, Meyer Bloom- 
field. 60 cents. 

Misery and Its Causes. E. T. Devine. 60 cents. 

The Spirit of Youth and City Streets. Jane 
Addams. 60 cents. 

Child Labor in City Streets. E. N. Clopper. 
$1.25. 

Education for Citizenship. Kerschensteiner. 
75 cents. 

The Worker and the State. A. D. Dean. $1.20. 

Periodicals : 

American Youth, 124 East 28th Street, New 

York City. Bi-monthly. $1. Special rates 

for clubs. 
The Survey, 105 East 22d Street, New York 

City. Weekly. $3. 
The Playground, 1 Madison Avenue, New York 

City. $2. 
Work with boys. Monthly. $1.50. 

(b) For working boys : 

Personal Problems of Boys Who Work. J. W. 

Jenks. 40 cents. 
Poor Boys Who Became Famous. S. K. Bolton. 

$1.50. 



24 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

Christian Teaching on Social and Economic 
Questions. C. C. Robinson. 50 cents. 

The Young Folks' Library on Vocations. W. 
D. Hyde. 10 vols. $16.25. 

Old Country Hero Stories. M. F. Brown. 25 
cents. 

Young Men Who Overcame. R. E. Speer. 

$1." 



Ill 

WORK WITH BOYS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

1. For Whom 

These boys are of two classes: (a) those in private 
schools and academies. The great opportunity of work 
by college men in such schools is fully described in Sec- 
tion II of this manual (Religious Deputations). 

(b) Those in public high schools and collegiate 
institutes. 

2. Work to he Done 

If we recognize that a growing boy has four distinct 
needs, — physical, mental, social and religious — we will 
see that the average high school boy has the first two 
well cared for through his normal school life, the third 
fairly well and the fourth almost not at all. In most 
schools there is a need in these first three phases of 
introducing a dominating Christian spirit, but the need is 
to purify existing activities rather than to initiate new 
ones. On the other hand, we see very great moral and 
religious need. Contributing to this are : the fact that our 
public schools have no moral or religious training except 
that which is incidental and through the personal influ- 
ence of teachers ; the fact that these boys are at the age 
of breaking away from the restraints of Sunday school; 
the excessive freedom of our x\merican life, and the 
unprecedented influence of college life over school life. 

The field is therefore clearly open for a voluntary reli- 
gious society among the boys themselves analogous to 
the college Young IMen's Christian Associations. In 
many places there are school Young ]\Ien's Christian 
Associations, though "High School Club" is a term 
perhaps more often used where conditions do not warrant 

2S 



26 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

a regular Association. Whatever the name, the work is 
much the same — namely, that of a rehgious society which 
the boys themselves control much as they do their ball 
teams or debating society. For full information see 
Bulletins 1, 2 and 3 of the School Student Christian 
Movement (Association Press, 15 cents). 

The work usually centers in a weekly devotional meet- 
ing or Bible classes and discussion groups. There should 
be committees on meetings, socials and social service, and 
Bible study, and also an advisory council of adults. One 
aim should be to urge vital connection with the Church 
and to make it easy for high school graduates to step at 
once, on entering college, into full Christian Association 
activities. The stated purpose of the clubs is "to create, 
maintain and extend throughout the school high standards 
of Christian character.'' 

It will be seen by the foregoing what is meant by this 
being work with boys and not work for boys. In the 
same way that the genius of a college Association is in 
being a spontaneous, voluntary movement managed by 
college men, so a school organization must be managed 
by the older boys. College men are, however, greatly 
needed as advisers, Bible group leaders, etc. It is not 
nearly enough, however, that schools have merely a series 
of Bible groups led by college men. Unless there be an 
indigenous school movement over half its potential good 
is lost. 

In schools in rural districts, organized under the 
County Work Department of the Young Men's Christian 
Association, as also where there is a city Association, 
care should of course be taken to see that the high school 
club fits as naturally as any other group into the general 
scheme of organization. 

3. Place of the Work 

While such organizations represent the whole school, 
it is often impossible to use school buildings for religious 



BOYS IX SECOXDARY SCHOOLS 27 

purposes, hence the leaders of each school should decide 
where is the best place to meet. Sometimes it may be a 
church parlor or a private home, and in places where 
there is a city Young ]\Ien's Christian Association the 
meetings or classes will usually meet in its building. 

4:. Division of the Work 

(1) There should be in the college Association a com- 
mittee on work with boys. This committee should have 
general charge of all work with boys and should be 
especially responsible for helping the high school work. 
From the point of view of the high school Association or 
club, this college student is a member or the chairman of 
the advisory committee. (2) There will need to be a 
group of men who act as leaders of Bible study circles. 
Their best success will come when they act as leaders of 
the group in its discussions rather than merely as teachers 
of a stated lesson. 

5. Qualifications of the Worker 

For w^ork like this a worker needs to have much the 
same qualifications as for work among college men. He 
will find that he will come in touch chiefly with the 
maturer boys of the three upper classes — the officers will 
be from the two upper classes. He should be of a 
friendly nature and show his interest in all the healthy 
interests of boy life. He should be of a type to appeal 
quickly to the leading boys of the school. If he is pro- 
ficient in some form of athletics it will help in introducing 
him ; but after the first few meetings his friendliness, 
punctuality and earnestness will count for more. Such 
work, being more distinctly religious than that for some 
other classes of boys, demands above all else contagious 
Christian leadership. 



5UCCE55FUL PlA^S FOR ORGANIZATIOM 
m WORK WITH 

High amp Preparatory ^School Boys 



RELATIOnSHIP 

TO THE 

School. 

Plam 1 
In places 
where fliere 
15 a local 
YACA- 



Plam Z 

In places 
where ffiere 
is no 
•YACA- 




3CH00L 

Club 

Older Hi^h School Bqys, usually 
xrom rtf€ upper classes, who meet a\ Hie jocol 
y'M'OA,rio^ necessarily o-s rnemfcer^, to-plon 
5or I'hc carrying GUI' oj. t-he 5la^€d purpose 
Of hhc Clut; " fo t5€cK fc Creole, mdirt fain, 
flnd extend ^[irou<|houl' tlie 6chool hi<gh 
standards oj Chrishon cf/aractcr, " 



Preparatory School Y- A C A - 
OR High School YACA - 

Composed a^ otove buhon 
a slmiior plan ^o Fhflhof l"hc 
CollejeYACAThisinhe 
plan usually adopfed by hhe 
Preparalory Schools . 




Preparatory 6choof. 




IGH School Club 

Composed 05 m Plan 1 buF 
the or(ganiz,<3hort does nol" 
mecl' in the School bulldiry. 



DETAiLS c>f SUGGESTED LOCAL QRGAfNIZATIOIH 

High Afio Preparatory School Boy6 

For puller cxpinn oh on see High School Sfa- 
clcnl' riovcmenf' Bullehns r(o5.1,2,3 and 4. 




A 5MALL GROUP - 
Which Includcj a jew 
oxhve, HTorou()h and 
viril Chrishon older boyi 
who rneet* regularly jov 
proyer and o('herwi5c 
helping to vilbliie the work 

^ BlBLE 5TUDY GR0Uf5 
For voluntary Bible 
stlidy by a5 many bo^5 
as can be enlisted, 
whether or no I' hheyare 
Club oryACAmcmkerj. 



HIGH SCHOOL CLUB or 

SCHOOL YA\CA 

Older boy^ludenfe banded 
bgel-her m loyally Yd Chrtsl' 
\n a purely vohdarjl e^fod to 
strvt lk\r dchooUtid the 
communify; to promote cfjar- 
a&er budding \>) Sitlestud/; 
and \q lead boyj fe demoted 
scmce jor rte Churcf], 

EXECUTIVE COMNITTEE. 
OR CABINET 
Includes all of/icer^j^ cfiair- 
men of commil't'ee^ and ab 
leasNne m^nKo^ l*he 
adulh Adviior^ Council. 

COMMITTEES 

Of- older boys upon whom 
i§ placed special leader- 
ship rejponiip J I ify ^QV fc 
promohon o^ Bible S(^djj 
Reliqiou5 Meehn^s^ Member- 
ship, special campaigns, etc. 



30 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

6. Previous. Training Advisable 

If a man's heart is really right toward Christ and he 
recalls vividly his own school days, he cannot go far 
wrong in such effort. It will help, however, if he has led 
a Freshman Bible group, taught a boys' class in Sunday 
school or had experience in a school Association or club. 

7. A Specimen Meeting 

The work varies according to the kind of city, the kind 
and size of school, etc. Let us supppose a school of one 
hundred boys in a city where there is no city Young Men's 
Christian Association. 

The regular weekly meeting was called to order by the 
president; a boy played the piano for the singing of 
several stirring hymns. There were a dozen sentence 
prayers by boys and then the group of forty-five divided 
themselves into four groups for Bible study, led by four 
college men. The course studied was Koehler's Jesus 
the Leader. (These four leaders meet weekly to be 
coached by the chairman of the advisory council.) After 
the thirty-minute discussion meeting each group closed 
with prayer. A short meeting was then held of six boys 
who had signed the declaration of purpose of the Inner 
Circle with the advisory council chairman — for special 
prayer about the work and careful planning of a school 
''Campaign of Friendship" to be held during Holy Week. 

8. Advisers 

The secretary of a Young Men's Christian Association, 
of a boys' department or student Association, Christian 
teachers and principals, pastors and Sunday school 
leaders. 

9. Difficulties Likely to he Encountered and How to 
Meet Them 

(1) 'The principal is not sympathetic." No matter; 



BOYS IX SECOXDARY SCHOOLS 31 

start with a small group of Inner Circle boys working 
quietly and you will soon see the good results. (2) "We 
can't use the school building for meetings.'' That is often 
true and the best work is often done in private homes, 
Young ^Men's Christian Associations, etc. {'S) ''Our 
college men can't get the boys to take the lead in organiz- 
ing or directing.'' Then they fail as leaders. Better con- 
vert them to right methods or wait for a new crop. It 
must be work zi'ifh boys. (4) "AA'e are troubled to get 
good courses, etc." AA'rite to your state student or boys' 
work secretary, or The School Student Christian ]\Iove- 
ment, 12^ East 28th Street, Xew York City. 

10. Social Problems to be Studied in Coincctioii zuitli 
This Service 

AMder use of school plant, moral and social training in 
public, education, results of environment on character, 
etc. 

11. Related Professional Service 

Boys' work secretaryship of Young ]\Ien's Christian 
Association, ministry, director of religious education, 
teaching. 

12. Religious Significance 

\Vork for boys at this critical age is bound to show one 
the urgency of tactful but definite evangelistic efliort. 
It is the decision-forming period of life. AA'e should see 
that no matter how scientific have been our methods of 
religious education up to this time, we must now work for 
a ''personal commitment'' to Christ. That is the acid test 
for our own lives, either our religion is vital or it is not. 
If it is we are bound to pass it on. This is also the period 
of the fiercest temptations of life. On no other ground 



32 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

can we get. boys to win completely in their fight for self- 
control except by taking advantage of their native 
spiritual resources which are also during this period 
bursting into new life. 

13. Reading References 

1. For general bibliography on boy life, etc. (see page 
33). 

2. For leaders of high school boys. 

Bulletins of high school student Christian movement. 

(a) The local organization. 

(b) Constitution for high school club. 

(c) The Inner Circle. 

15 cents for package containing three. 
Purpose and Program of the Y. M. C. A. in a Pre- 
paratory School. 10 cents. 

3. For schoolboys : 

Things that Make a Man. R. E. Speer. 5 cents. 
Fight for Character. H. C. King. 10 and 25 

cents. 
How to Deal with Temptation. R. E. Speer. 

10 and 25 cents. 
N^ot in the Curricnhim. 50 cents. 

Periodical: Agenda. 25 cents a year. 

4. Study and discussion courses : 

Jesus the Leader. F. O. Koehler. 10 and 15 
cents. 

The Campaign of Friendship. F. M. Harris. 
Teachers' edition, 15 cents; students' edition, 
10 cents. 

Studies in the Character of Jesus. R. R. Per- 
kins. Leaders' edition, paper, 15 cents; stu- 
dents' section, 10 cents. 



BOYS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 2>Z 

Life and Works of Jesus According to St. 
Mark. W. D. Murray. Cloth, 50 cents ; post- 
paid, 60 cents ; students' edition, 10 cents ; per 
dozen, 80 cents. 

Christian Race. H. L. Smith. Teachers' edi- 
tion, 75 cents ; students' pad, 20 cents. 

Men Who Dared. C. G. Trumbull. Teachers' 
edition, cloth, 40 cents ; paper, 25 cents ; stu- 
dents' edition, 10 cents. 

Life Questions of School Boys. J. W. Jenks. 
25 and 40 cents. 

Christian Teaching on Social and Economic 
Questions. C. C. Robinson. 50 cents. Daily 
Bible Readings for this course, 10 cents; per 
dozen, 80 cents. 

Servants of the King. R. E. Speer. 40 and 60 
cents. 

Effective Workers in Needy Fields. W. F. 
McDowell and others. 35 and 50 cents. 

India Awakening. G. S. Eddy. 40 and 60 cents. 



General Bibliography 
Boys' Nature and Nurture 

Youth, Its Education, Regimen and Hygiene. G. S. Hall. 

$1.50. 
Adolescent Boyhood. H. M. Burr. 75 cents. 
The Minister and the Boy. Allen Hoben. $1. 
Boy Life and Self -Government. G. W. Fiske. $1. 
The Training of Children in Religion. George Hodges. 

$1.50. 
From Youth into Manhood. W. S. Hall. 50 cents. 
Education in Religion and Morals. G. A. Coe. $1.35. 



34 CLUBS AND OTHER WORK WITH BOYS 

Organization and Activity 

Boys' Work in the Local Church. 50 cents. 

How to Deal with Lads. P. Green. 80 cents. 

Social Activities for Men and Boys. A. M. Chesley. $1. 

Camping for Boys. H. W. Gibson. $1. 

Manual of Boy Scouts of America. Boys' edition, 30 

cents; scout masters', 60 cents. 
The Teaching of Bible Classes. E. F. See. 75 cents. 
The Boy and the Sunday School. J. L. Alexander. $1. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

027 279 889 8 



